when i got into brown i studied urban studies fair and unlike a lot of folks my age i just come back to my hometown and give back to the city that i thought i given me the opportunities that i had. holyoke has a rich history. it was the first place involve the ball in the first industrial city in the entire united states and the first to make paper or so we are nicknamed the paper city. like a lot of cities in the northeast we were once a booming industrial city but at the same time folks came into holyoke and a lot of the factories closed or moved overseas so we right now have a high of 11% employment -- unemployment rate. about 50% of our population is latino mostly puerto rican descent and a diversity as well. so i got elected last november. there were four of us running in the election. and nonpartisan race on the local level so the top vote getters faced off against each other in november. i won with 53% of the vote and i became mayor in january at the age of 22. then i turned 23 and i will be 24 and january so i'm quickly getting up there. [laughter] is a very stressful job but